As used herein, the term “passenger service vehicle” encompasses vehicles for transporting passengers and, in particular, road vehicles for transporting passengers. Exemplary passenger service vehicles may be buses, coaches or the like.
Passenger service vehicles are often operated in fleets, with the vehicles being centrally serviced or maintained such as at a fleet depot.
Significant innovation and technology development has occurred in recent years in relation to the design of passenger service vehicles. In particular, there has been a continued drive towards providing vehicles that allow for, for example, improved passenger accommodation, vehicle handling, fuel efficiency, and ease of maintenance, etc.
In a typical passenger vehicle, when moving between sitting and standing positions, and when travelling in a standing position, hand poles are provided at frequent intervals in the vehicle interior. They provide readily grasped, secure hand holds for passengers. The requirement for hand poles is often mandated by regulations in a given country.
Typically, hand poles are generally vertically disposed and running from floor to ceiling or, often, from a seat back to ceiling within a vehicle. In modern passenger vehicle designs, the hand poles may be curved, for example, to provide more space and more comfortable gripping by a standing passenger and may, in some arrangements, include one or more bends.
Fittings within the passenger compartment of a passenger vehicle, such as hand poles, are desirably robust, low maintenance, tamper resistant and do not present edges, projections or nips where passengers, their clothing or their belongings can be harmed or damaged.